Well, the exploration expedition hit the rocks on Saturday against No. 2-ranked Alabama and the Gators discovered they still have miles and miles to go on offense if they want to be considered a legitimate SEC contender.

The Gators' scored their lone offensive touchdown on a 46-yard TD pass with 5:02 left after Alabama had already comfortably secured the game. Otherwise, if Alabama's defense had actually been trying, Florida's offense would have been held without a touchdown for a second straight game.

And for some mysterious reason, McElwain continued to stick with his struggling quarterback Treon Harris, even though Harris has committed seven turnovers, thrown just four TD passes while completing less than 50 percent of his passes over the last five games. Against Alabama, Harris was just 9-of-24 through the air and Florida's offense was never a factor in the game.

Granted, considering nobody expected UF to even get a sniff of the conference championship game this season, McElwain was playing with house money against Alabama. Still, that doesn't mean you just fold your cards and go home. The Gators needed a daring dash of raspberry sherbet in their offensive game plan, but McElwain continued to go pure vanilla ice cream.

Back to return a punt late in the first quarter, Callaway muffed the return and fell on the ball at Florida's 8-yard line.

But the first-year receiver...

ATLANTA — For a moment during Saturday's 29-15 loss to No. 2 Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, Florida's Antonio Callaway looked like a freshman.

Back to return a punt late in the first quarter, Callaway muffed the return and fell on the ball at Florida's 8-yard line.

But the first-year receiver...

(Jordan McPherson)

Why didn't he try something different? Why not put in another quarterback for a series to try and create a spark? Why not let Harris -- a strong runner -- operate out of a read-option formation? Why not try a trick play? Why not do something different to try and move the ball on Alabama's ferocious defense?

After all, it's not like the status quo has been working. Until Florida's slop-time touchdown Saturday, the Gators went eight consecutive possessions and compiled a grand total of minus-3 yards. The Gators were 0-for-11 on third-down conversions and were out-gained 437-180. Here's all you need to know about Florida's offensive futility: Alabama stud running back Derrick Henry had just one less carry (44) than Florida had total plays (45) and had nine more yards (189-180).

"I'm sure Treon missed some throws and missed some plays, but he competed his tail off," McElwain said of his QB. "He didn't look rattled. He's our quarterback and I'm proud of him."

Don't get me wrong, McElwain's first season has been a resounding success, and just getting to the SEC Championship Game was a monumental accomplishment for a program that endured four years of misery and malaise under former coach Will Muschamp. But don't for a minute think UF has turned the corner. As Nick Saban himself said before the SEC Championship Game, when asked if he was surprised his former offensive coordinator, McElwain, had turned around the Gators in one season.

"Not at all," Saban said. "I have a lot of respect for Jim as a coach and a lot of respect for the kind of players that Florida has on its team. It's a fine line between 6-6 and 10-2; it's a fine line."

This is not to minimize what Florida has accomplished, but there's no denying the Gators walked precariously along that fine line. They dramatically beat Tennessee 28-27 on a miracle 4th-and-14 TD bomb. They beat Vanderbilt 9-7 on last-minute 43-yard field goal from struggling kicker Austin Hardin. They barely beat 2-9 Florida Atlantic when an FAU receiver had his hands on the ball in overtime for what would have likely been the game-winning TD.

Yes, they won 10 games despite their starting quarterback Will Grier getting suspended for the rest of the season after testing positive for PEDs, and, so, kudos to the Gators for being gritty and gutty and resilient and resolute.

But McElwain was hired to fix the offense and it's far from being fixed. Grier was suspended six games ago and the offense has gotten progressively worse under Harris. The Gators might be in the national championship if their offense were just slightly below mediocre instead of plain awful.

Florida's offense came into the SEC Championship Game ranked 104th in the country, averaging 351.9 yards per game. Last year's Muschamp offense was 93rd in the country and averaged 367.6 yards per game.

"When you sit back and reflect just a little bit, we've come a long way," McElwain said, "but how far we're going to go is the most exciting part of all."

In other words, Captain Mac's inaugural season of discovery is nearly over, but the search continues.

For now, though, the ship has sailed on Florida's offense.

mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @BianchiWrites. Listen to his radio show every weekday from 6 to 9 a.m. on FM 96.9 The Game.